Tuesday 12 July 2016

SIRUKEERAI PARUPPU KOOTU

Sirukeerai is known by the scientic name Amaranthus Poligonoides by the scientists. Greens are playing an important role in the kongu traditional side dishes to the main dish such as hot rice, Ragi kali, kambu satham and any small millets from the ancient times. It is considered as healthy and easily digestible and medicinal food for all the ages of the people.

Sirukeerai is wonderful greens enriched with rich iron component. It increases memory power. It has abundant calcium. It cures skin diseases like scabies, eczema and treats with kidney related properties.
Kongu folks have an immense knowledge about the uses of the greens. They know how to prepare the side dishes using the greens and lentils and enhance the taste. They consume and benefit from the greens in any form of cooking such as kuzhambu, kootu, porial, gravy or thuvayal etc.

When you make this Sirukeerai with toor dal or mysore dal, it will give you an excellent taste with hot rice and a spoon of ghee. Children will like to have more.

Now we move to the procedure of sirukeerai dal kootu..

Ingredients:

Sirukeerai one bundle
Toor dal or Mysore dal 100 gms
Cumin seeds one spoon
Salt required
Tomato medium size one
Green chillies three
Sesame oil One tablespoon
Mustard seeds one spoon
Shallots peeled and chopped half cup
Curry leaves one sprig

Procedure:

Pressure cook the dal with three whistles.
Clean the greens and wash it to remove the dust and soils.
Pluck the leaves and tender leaves with the top.
Chop them with scissor.
Heat the wok with sesame oil over a medium flame.
Add the mustard seeds to splutter.
Then add shallots, green chillies, and curry leaves and saute them until the shallots turn translucent.
Add turmeric with them.
Transfer the tomato dices and saute again.
Transfer the greens chops into the wok and saute over the medium flame until the green leaves shrink and half cooked.
Add cooked dal, salt and. Cumin seeds.
Adjust the consistency with required water.
Allow to boil for few minutes.
Check the salt.
Switch off the flame.
Maah the greens and dal using a spatula.

Sirukeerai Dal Kootu is now ready to have with hot steamed rice and a. Spoon of ghee.



Sunday 10 July 2016

SUNDAKKAI VATHAL KUZHAMBU/TURKEY BERRY TAMARIND GRAVY

Sundakkai is known as Turkey berry in English. It has a lot of medicinal facts. The Advantages are wonderful to know when we google about the nutritional and medicinal values of the Turkey berry.

* The consumption of turkey berry in any form kills the germ in our body. 
* It controls diabetes.
* It strengthens the bones and nerves and also helps in the physical development of our body when it 
   is consumed regularly.
* It prevents gastritis
 .
* If the people who are affected with paralysis consume turkey berries, the disease will be cured.
* It prevents teeth related diseases.
* Turkey berry is consisting of the following essential nutrients and minerals which are very 
   beneficial to our health.
   
                     Vitamin A
                     Iron 24.5 mg
                     Calcium 0.28 mg
                     Fat 1.7 mg
                     Fiber 56.9 mg


Its scientific name is Solanum Torvum. We can grow this amazing plant in our home garden and get amazing benefits by consumption of this berry. 

I think the above information of this Turkey Berry is sufficient to learn about. We should experience the benefits of this berry either in raw fruit or dried fruit called sundakkai. 

Let us move to make the sundakkai vathal kuzhambu:

This gravy or kuzhambu has been served in almost South Indian hotels and homes during the special occasions as a special dish.

Ingredients:

Sundakakai or dried berry 100 gms
Coconut grates half cup
tamarind one goose berry size
Jaggery one piece
Fenugreek seeds roasted powder one pinch
Asafoetida one pinch
fried gram one spoon
roasted poppy seeds one tablespoon
Red chillies five
Curry leaves two sprigs
coriander leaves chopped one cup
shallots one cup
Turmeric one spoon
Coriander seeds roasted one tablespoon
Cumin seeds one spoon
Pepper one spoon
Garlic pods three

Procedure:

Roast red chillies, poppy seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, pepper, curry leaves one sprig, asafoetida and keep aside to cool down.

Powder them and restore.

Blend the coconut grates tamarind, jaggery, garlic pods and fried gram into a fine paste.

Heat the wok with sesame oil and fry mustard seeds, shallots, curry leaves, red chillies two and turmeric, masal powder we blended. red chilly powder half spoon.

Add tomato dices and allow to cook into gravy texture.

Add the coconut paste and adjust the consistency with water.

Add salt and allow to boil and attain gravy consistency

Heat the tempering pan over a medium flame.

Add one tablespoon of sesame oil and fry the turkey berry in two batches and transfer them into the gravy.

Finally,




mix the chopped coriander leaves.

Super delicious sundakkai vathal puli kuzhambu is ready to have with hot steamed rice,









Friday 8 July 2016

MILK HALWA

Milk halwa is a traditional dessert made with cow milk using few ingredients. It tastes scrumptiously.
Ingredients:
Cow milk 2 litres
Sugar 250 gms
Cardamom eight pods
Cow ghee 250 gms
Almonds one cup
Cashews chopped one tablespoon
Procedure:
Bring to boil the milk.
Stir continuously in a medium flame.
Adjust the flame then and there.
Care should be taken to boil in a medium flame stirring continuously.
This process to be continued until the milk gets thickened into 1/4 of the wok.
Bring to boil the almonds and let them sit in the boiled water for three minutes.
Blanch them.
Blend the blanched almonds with half  cup of milk into a fine paste.
Add the almond paste into  the thickened milk and stir to get uniform blend with milk.
Add sugar in this stage and stir constantly in a medium flame.
Add cow ghee and stir..stir..stir again.
Add roasted cashew bits, cardamom seed powder.
Stir the mixture in a low flame continuously until the mixture gets halwa consistancy.
Grease the broad tiffin box with a spoon of ghee and transfer the mixture into the tiffin box.
Allow to  cool.
Now the delicious milk halwa is ready..
Do try and let me know how it is turn out.

.





Friday 24 June 2016

MILKY MUSHROOM STIR FRY

Milky mushrooms are the substitute of non-vegan foods.
Nutrition Value of Milky Mushroom
Milky mushrooms are quite a well-known species known for their high nutritional value. Taking a look at the constituents, proteins make up the bulk of the mushroom which is almost 6 times of the carbohydrate content on one hand and fats being too low on the other hand. Hence it is proved out to be an excellent food for people who do not want to risk increase in weight. Mushrooms have the low sodium content which is responsible for high blood pressure but being rich in the potassium content, the blood pressure and the pulse is regulated and smoothened.

Another very important nutritional value to note here is that the milky mushrooms are rich in the anti- oxidant ergothioneine which helps to look after the replenishing of the organs of the body like bone, kidney, liver etc and also being rich source of riboflavin and selenium, milky mushrooms prevent the aging of the body by tackling the free radicals in the body. It is due to selenium that milky mushrooms in particular, have the ability to prevent prostate cancer in males while breast cancer in females by curbing the action of enzymes like aromatase and alpha- 5- reductase which causes uncontrolled cell division resulting in growth of cancer cells. This is scientifically a proved fact.
              ---   from google source

We are going to make the above mentioned milky mushroom curry now:

Ingredients:

milky mushrooms 500 kg
Shakthi chicken masala powder one spoon
Turmeric one spoon
Kashmiri chilly powder one small spoon
Pepper powder half spoon
Cloves four
Cinnamon three pieces
Animase star one
Curryleaves two sprigs
Shallots half cup
Green chillies two halves
Coriander leaves half cup
Tomato one
Sesame oil two tablespoons
Mustard seeds one spoon
Salt required


Procedure:

Wash the milky mushrooms and chop into fine pieces.
Heat the pan with sesame oil.
Add mustard seeds to splutter.
Add cloves, cinnoman and animase star.
Add shallots, green chillies, curry leaves.
Saute for a while.
Simmer the flame.
Followed by red chilly powder, turmeric and shakthi chicken masala.
Add tomato dices and mushrooms.
Saute for two minutes until the mushroom get shrunken.
Sprinkle required salt powder.
Close the pan with lid.
Allow to cook over a medium flame for two minutes.
Finally add coriander chops and mix well.
Mushroom stir fry is ready to have with hot rice or as a scrumptious side dish to any main dish.





Sunday 5 June 2016

MANGO FRUIT HALWA

Ingredients:

Malgova mangoes two
Sugar 200 gms
Ghee 100 ml
Cardamom crushed four
Crumbled cashews half cup

Procedure:

Peel off the mangoes.
chop the mango pulp.
Blend them.
Heat the sugar with half cup of water
over a medium flame.
Bring to boil the sugar syrup until the one string consistency reached.
Add the mango blend and stir continuously to combine together with syrup.
Add half cup of ghee and stir constantly.
Observe the entire mango gets thickened and nonsticky.
Add the remaining ghee, roastes cashew crumbles and cardamom.
Stir cintinuously in low flame.
Now mango halwa becomes trasparent with cool yellow color.
Transfer the halwa into a serving bowl.

Delicious mango fruit halwa is ready to enjoy..!




Saturday 4 June 2016

POTATO STUFFED BONDA

Ingredients:

Two potatos pressure cooked
Bellary onion one  (finely chopped)
Curry leaves one sprig
Turmeric half spoon
Salt required
ginger grates one spoon
Mustard seeds one spoon
Mint greens one cup
Coriander leaves half cup
Green chillies two chopped
Cooking oil one tablespoon
For the preparation of bonda mix batter:
Raw rice flour two tablespoons
Besan flour 100 gms
Sodium bicarbonate one pinch
Asafoetida half pinch
Salt required

Procedure:

Peel off the pressure cooked potatoes.
Chop the potatoes.
Heat a tempering wok with cooking oil.
Add mustard seeds to crackle.
Add onion, green chillies, ginger grated, chopped curry leaves, mint leaves and coriander leaves.
Saute well until the onion gets the translucent texture.
Add the potato dices and saute well to combine together.
Check the salt. Adjust if needed.
Mash the ingredients to incorporate together.
Keep aside to cool down.
Now we prepare bonda mix batter as follows:
Mix the raw rice flour, besan flour, water required, chilly powder, salt needed, asafoetida in a bowl.
Mix well to form a fine paste (Idli batter consistency.)
Make balls if potato stuff.  (lemon sized)
Heat the deep-frying pan with cooking oil.
Dip the potato ball into the batter and drop gently.
Repeat the process for five more balls.
Drop them gently one by one.
Allow to deep-fry over a medium flame.
.
Repeat the process of deep-frying in two batches.
Potato bondas are ready to enjoy.



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